Wanted suspect in Rumford pot bust turns himself in

PARIS, Maine — A Rumford man accused earlier this month of possessing marijuana turned himself in at the Oxford County Jail on Thursday and walked back out about an hour later.

Charles L. Gannon, 43, of 18 Erchles St., is accused, along with his girlfriend Becky Collette-Theriault, 41, of possessing 1.2 pounds of processed marijuana that Rumford police found in Collette-Theriault’s car two weeks ago.

Arrest warrants were issued for the couple and Collette-Theriault was arrested on Aug. 9, but Gannon remained at large until Thursday.

On Friday, Cpl. Todd Hussey of the Oxford County Jail said Gannon turned himself in at the jail at around 12:30 p.m. Thursday and was booked on charges of aggravated drug trafficking, drug possession and violation of bail conditions.

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Gannon posted bail with property worth $5,000 and was released from the jail at around 1:30 p.m., Hussey reported.

The couple’s charges came after Rumford police Officer Bradlee Gallant pulled over a vehicle operated by Gannon to see if he was abiding by bail conditions, including drug and alcohol tests and weapons searches. Gannon was arrested in July on a charge of assaulting a police officer in Rumford.

In an arrest affidavit, Bernard said he smelled an “overwhelming” odor of marijuana in the car but found none in the passenger compartment. The vehicle was impounded and a later search of the trunk turned up a one-gallon Ziploc bag of marijuana.

Collette-Theriault was arrested the same day at the couple’s residence, which is 700 feet from Rumford Elementary School and 400 feet from the Chisholm Head-Start school.